Etymologies

(American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

Rarely, if ever, has a Vatican official used the word "omerta" - a serious accusation in Italian -- to compare the reluctance of some in the Church to come clean on the abuse scandal with the Mafia's code of silence.

But on Wednesday the Vatican's top official for dealing with sexual abuse of minors, Monsignor Charles Scicluna, said hiding behind a culture of "omerta" - the Italian word for the Mafia's code of silence - would be deadly for the Church.

Paranoia and its tactical cousins, stonewalling and total enforcement of the Sicilian code of silence known as omerta, are supposed to be the first strategic blunders one learns about in an MBA crisis management course.